ROOMS, LIGHTING + LETTERS
FREEFORM NARRATIVE CGI DESIGN
This particular idea came to me amidst a Covid fever dream. A friend had proposed graphic design exercises out of simple lettering and using positioning of lettering to help illustrate an idea without changing font. Taking the suggestion to heart ideas began forming. Below is the series that was inspired by the assignment. Each form a narrative with simple font and a basic room design. The idea expressed as clearly as possible, and, as usual, with humor.
The heat and swollen irritation represented by the red-orange glowing hue. Oversized, crowded letters trample over each other as the four walls close in. Empty water bottles strewn across any available space. The chair is moved and the computer is on: the only way to escape to the outside world. Bed is a mess, a pillow propped against the wall from viewing movies on the laptop. A light from the outside paints the room blue-- is it evening on an overcast day, a street light interrupting the middle of a sleepless night, or early morning? Who knows, you have Covid: Time is a wash.
When you quarantine the room shrinks. No joke. The feeling of getting buried by needless things weighs on the mind. It's night, the annoying bright yellow glow of too much stuff makes it impossible to sleep. The repeating unorganized letters make the space that much more confining. Maybe the distraction from late night web surfing can lull you to sleep.
The scene is now a kids room. The blue is now deliberate and saturated to give a youthful touch. Sports posters and a board full of pictures and momentos cover the walls. The objects and frames are all slightly crooked. The kid has just streamed a horror movie on a laptop glowing red and is now hiding under the covers with a flashlight. The street lights from outside cast ominous shadows across the walls. Being a kid of course they'll act tough in front of their friends. "I saw that movie, nah, it's not scary!"
Covid-quarantine or not, everybody in a large city such as Los Angeles has thought about how much they're paying for so little space. Overblown price and letters taking up the majority of the room. The walls are smaller and pressed together. Harsh lighting from the window look like bars on a jail cell, the dreary charcoal walls, and the unavoidable vermillion add to the financial, psychological pressure and weight of the cost of living.
In contrast, the idea of a clean and tidy room begins to seep in. Very soft minty green is welcoming and a breath of fresh air. Everything is in its place and in order. The computer desk has lost its clutter. Where a speaker was is now a living plant. The bed is made and all the objects are squared away with straight edges.
After the worst of Covid was over and the room was cleaned out there was room for humor and some of the more exciting things in life. The room has now matured. Elegant flowing curtains now frame a beautiful and inviting blue light. Louvered doors where there was once mirrors. Warm tones in the wall paint, wood, encouraged by inviting candle light. A sleek modern cabinet where a dutiful desk used to be. Large portrait on an accent wall draw the eye to the focal point: the bed. The letters glowing with a warm orbing light and placed around the room representing a particularly playful couple.
Thinking about the similarities and differences between sex and sexting made this a comical punctuation to the end of the series. Same matured room, but the individual is alone. It's quiet and private scene. The curtains are closed and the room is barely lit by the moon outside and the single cell phone propped on the pillow receiving texts. Despite being alone, they are still turned on under their blankets.